June 13th, 2011

The Look Ahead: Children Chemists, Menil Memberships, Photography, and Philanthropy

Another week starts. It has the potential to be a great week. We’ve got some events happening today and a couple going on next week. Why next week? Sometimes that little Hobbit voice inside us all speaks loud, telling us it’s never too early to start fixing on next week’s satiating plate of events. It’s thinking about meatloaf for second dinner while you’re eating s’mores for first breakfast.

The Houston Children’s Museum: Grab your white coats and goggles! You’re invited to become a chemist this summer at BASF’s Kids’ Lab. As the world’s largest chemical company, BASF developed Kids’ Lab to to encourage children, ages 6-12, to gain a better appreciation of and interest in the dynamic world of chemistry. The nationwide Kids’ Lab program is designed to provide a fun, hands-on learning environment for children, teachers and caregivers.

Paul: Warhol, Rauschenberg and Rothko. Those are three names that you will never forget after you walk through the Renzo Piano designed building that holds the Menil’s collection of art. Limiting it to only three names doesn’t do it any justice. With 15,000 works of art you’re going to have a hard time picking a favorites. Let’s not just focus on the main building. There is an entire mini-village hidden in Montrose for this private gallery that was a product of a Schlumberger heiress and her executive husband. When it’s all said and done, near some of the busiest parts of Houston the Menil Collection fosters one of the most tranquil environments. That’s something even the art-haters can appreciate (though, how can one hate art?).

If this description of some of Julie Soefer’s doings doesn’t get you excited about this event, I don’t think anything else will.
From the event page: Julie Soefer was mentored by pioneering photographer, Arnold Newman, who developed the environmental portrait. Julie served as the still photographer for the feature film Super Size Me, snapping the iconic movie-poster image of director Morgan Spurlock with a mouthful of french fries. Her work has been featured on the cover of Houston magazine and she has been published by numerous national publications including The Financial Times, Texas Monthly and The Wall Street Journal.